AA to park at least 75 jets, charge $15 for first piece of luggage

American Airlines yesterday said it will retire "at least" 75 aircraft, including 40-45 mainline jets, this year and begin charging $15 for the first piece of checked luggage on North American flights as it tries to cope with oil prices that reached more than $130 per barrel Wednesday.
"We are facing an extraordinarily difficult environment," Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey said in announcing the cutbacks. "The US airline industry was not built for $125 or $130 barrel oil. . .[and] will not ...